Mahara Village
by Hinata5enpai
Summary: Matsuri was 100% sure she was going to die at this facility. All that she knew was being a test subject was the worst type of torture ever available. How could Mahara Village allow this? Does the Sand Village know that their trading partners were part of such vulgar experiments? The Kazekage's little brother seems to think it a vulgar idea. If only he knew. AU Gaara X Matsuri


The hours ticked by at a speed so slow, days could've passed and the difference wouldn't even register. How long had she been there? Months? Years? The mystery may never be solved.

The needle in her wrist itched aggressively, but she couldn't even muster the energy to relieve it. The fact that she was strapped to the sterile hospital bed across her chest and thighs didn't help either. The doctors at this base were quite thorough in their quest to prevent escape. Matsuri had, in reality, been at the Study College of Anatomy and Body Acknowledgement for a little over two years.

She'd arrived as a test subject at the age of fifteen with choppy brown hair, lively hazel eyes, and a curious smile. Her family was as poor as they could be and had sold the youngest of the family, Matsuri, to the school so they could afford food for the month. At her arrival, Matsuri has been under the impression that she was to STUDY at the school, not BE STUDIED at the school.

For being young adults, the students who did tests on her were more cruel than most television villains. Whether it be testing medication on her or the more vulgar tests on her body like the reaction of the brain upon being electrocuted, Matsuri's whole life was one big, numb, blur. When the medicine that sedated her mind ninety percent of the time managed to wear off, Matsuri wondered how such torture was allowed in Mahara village.

Mahara Village was a small, science-focused, town about twenty miles south of the Sand Village. It had two main states of weather: Hot and Sunny, or humid and tornado-esk. The latter was a surprise to all who visited, seeing at the Sand Village was so near and at such a lack of water. Both villages benefited from the fact, though, and the Kazekage visited once every five years to renew the agreement they both held about sharing the water supply. One village receives money and protection, while the other receives water to sustain living situations.

Matsuri, anyway, couldn't remember what either weather condition felt like. Her head felt so light and fluffy, but she also couldn't even lift it off of the pillow for more than a few seconds without a harsh pain wracking her body. She supposed it was a side-effect of the drug that was fed through her IV. She could barely even walk alone, considering she hadn't been able to travel around the building alone since her arrival.

The girl had no memory of her past life, minus a few visions that flashed through her mind on a daily basis: a skinny dying dog; a black-haired beauty with icy eyes and a sadistic smile; and lastly, a dark place that smelled badly of poverty and tears. Despite these memories not being positive, the girl clung to them with all of her might, for they were all of her humanity that remained. The memory of the smelling place made her stomach churn wildly, and a monitor promptly began beeping beside her bed. A dull-eyed nurse quickly arrived, put something into her IV, and then stood beside her bed.

She said something to Matsuri, but Matsuri couldn't make out just what it was she'd said. The sound of her voice was muddy and unclear, as if the nurse was outside a pool that Matsuri was underwater in. Matsuri tried to tell her to speak more clearly, but all that escaped was a girly whine. The nurse's eyes widened by a millimeter, but quickly returned to the heartless look they once held.

The woman pinched Matsuri's arm slightly before stalking out of the room, her heels making loud clicking noises that bounced easily off of the walls and echoes into Matsuri's ears like a dog whistle would to a puppy. It hurt. The pinched area on her arm tingled with the remnants of the touch. Matsuri, feeling oddly more alert than usual, looked around the room without moving her head too much.

For the first time, the girl realized that there was another bed not three feet away from her own, and it was occupied. A tan girl with messy blonde hair and wide, blue-green eyes was staring at her with a great deal of fear. The fear, however, was not directed at Matsuri, but at the situation that she'd been placed in. Matsuri figured the girl must be newer than herself. Matsuri, however, stared at her, surprised still that another girl was present. The only people she'd seen since she'd been admitted were nurses and doctors.

The girl's eyes widened in realization that she was being observed, and she began fighting her restraints with tears prickling at the corners of her eyes. Sobbing noises escaped her lips. The noise was slightly clearer to Matsuri's ears than the nurse's had been. Surprisingly, the machines around the other girl weren't detecting any difference in her blood pressure or heart rate, and Matsuri wondered if they were broken.

Regardless, no security showed up to correct the girl's outburst, so Matsuri just watched as the IV ripped out of the blonde's wrist. Almost instantly, the blonde's eyes calmed, and her eyes undilated. Her reckless struggling had ceased and she carefully unstrapped herself, contorting her arms until they were free, then sitting up and unlatching her legs. Once her feet hit the ground, she took a bit to test how strong they were.

That was when Matsuri was finally struck with the realization that the girl was going to escape. Trying to keep her heart calm, she wished the girl the best of luck that she could, and focused on keeping her own heart from racing with adrenaline. After deciding that her legs were okay, the girl rose to her feet, wobbled a small bit, and then hurried over to Matsuri's bed. Matsuri's face muscles moved in an odd way, that must've created a look of brilliant surprise when she saw that the girl was trying to save her as well.

Tears started to well in her own eyes, but quickly went away when a loud bang erupted throughout the room. The blonde's body went slack, and she fell onto Matsuri, her head reaching just under the still-strapped-down girl's face. After a few seconds, Matsuri's heart calmed after seeing that the girl was breathing and not bleeding. Two male nurses came out from behind the curtains around the door and removed the girl from the room.

They didn't even spare Matsuri one glance. Not that Matsuri minded, she was terrified of every worker in the whole joint. After they'd disappeared out of the room, everything was normal again. No noises disrupted the silence, minus the normal beeping of the heart monitor. Before she realized it, tears were falling from Matsuri's face freely. That was her first experience with someone who had morals and emotions, not a scalpel.

Deep in her heart, she knew the girl was okay, but she also really wanted to see her again. Even though they didn't say anything to each other, Matsuri knew they had to be together to survive, they had to. For the first time in a long time, Matsuri felt a large wave of determination rush over her. She was going to escape, and she was going to take anyone she could save with her.


End file.
